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Day One/Two in London

After a fun, quick train ride on Virgin from Liverpool, we arrived in London Wednesday night at 10pm. After finally finding the car the production company had sent for us, Seth asked the driver the magic question. “Can our daughter sit in the front?” Juli  had been wanting to sit in the front seat ever since we both saw a girl about Juli’s age sitting in what is our driver’s side in Liverpool. To us, it was the total illusion of this 8-year-old girl driving her Mum around town. Taxis don’t allow anyone to sit in front. That’s where the luggage goes. However, a private car for hire, is fine. I had looked up the laws and it was totally legal as long as the seatbelt was on, of course.  Juli was thrilled to sit in the front, which meant her first look at London, even for the short trip to the hotel, was from the front seat of a car! It would end up being a highlight of the entire trip for her.

Even though it was late after we had checked in (we had an air mattress put in our room), we had to walk around our neighborhood a bit. 7 dials was our new favorite place in London. It is where 7 roads come together at a monument with 7 dials on top of it. “Chicago” was playing there. We also learned that the “West End” means that the large, beautiful old theaters we are used to seeing concentrated in the Broadway district are actually spread out all over London.  

Thursday was hot. We did a lot of walking…and sweating. Juli was a good sport, despite her eczema giving her trouble with all the sweat and heat. We went to the London Eye, where we could see practically all of London. The view was incredible. We then made our way to Buckingham Palace, passing Westminster Abbey and Parliament along the way. Of course, Juli’s highlight was seeing pigeons that were different from the ones she sees in New York!

Thursday evening was amazing. We met with three great gents at the Ivy, this exclusive club/restaurant. I checked online first to see if they had a dress code. Thankfully, they did not. What I did not think to check was if the club accepted children. They did not. However, the three gentlemen have a bit of sway. We were meeting with John, who was the manager for Andrew Lloyd Webber, Queen, and Elton John, among others; his partner, James, who will begin studies this fall in New York for his Masters in musical theater writing,; and their friend, Jonathan, who actually helped Seth get his job, who was a top manager of models in London and was a judge on the U.K.’s version of “Top Model.” It ended up being just the six of us on this particular floor of the club. We had a great time. Juli was super. She knows how to hold her own in conversation.  Not only that, but she modeled a few different looks for our evening of theater. John had gotten us tickets to see “”Sister Act.”  They loved her various “looks”!

It had begun raining during our dinner but we got a taxi right away to whisk us off to the show. When we got out of the cab, who did we see? Joan Collins. Not only that, she’s the one who approached John. (I later learned they’ve known each other for decades). She ended up sitting in front of John. Right before the show began we met with two of John’s friends, sisters. One is in the House of Lords (who also ran Tony Blair’s campaigns) and the other one is in the House of Commons.  We had a great chat during the “interval”, aka the intermission, about Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, as well as the Iraq War. I only wished the interval had been longer!

We had a lot of fun at the show, though we got caught in a major downpour afterwards! We couldn’t get a taxi and we all walked in the rain for a solid 15 minutes. We later found out the amount of rain that came down in London that night is what they usually get in one whole month in the summer there! We didn’t mind. It just added to the experience.  The evening ended with us being invited to a birthday party the next evening for another member of Parliament, as well as an invitation to arrange a private tour the next day at Parliament. Yes, the day was that British! Oh, did I also mention I had fish and chips? By the way, Juli held her own in conversations with both women. I was quite proud of her.

Friday morning we got our tour. We didn’t see anything that anyone else on tour wouldn’t see, but it was great to get some inside scoop on how things operate there and to have a bit more freedom in walking around this truly extraordinary place.  Afterward, we met a good friend of Seth’s, (for 20 years, actually,) who won the Olivier Award for “Jerry Springer, the Opera” a few years ago. We met David for tea at The Orangerie at Kensington Palace. It was fun but hot! Practically nothing is air conditioned in London. David was inspiring because he had pretty much given up on the business before hitting it big in Jerry Springer when he was about my age.

Later that evening, we went to “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.” The company manager of the tv show got us all great seats for the show.  I haven’t seen the movie in years but essentially it’s a jukebox musical with a transsexual as the lead. The understudy was on in that role and he was fantastic.  The theater was gorgeous. The Palace…as was the Palladium, which is where we saw “Sister Act.” So much history in both theaters.

So that was our first 48 hours in London. We got a lot in. Only a little more than 48 hours remaining before we had to head back home!

 

Theater Weekend

Seth was offered 3 tickets to see the Actors Fund performance of "Wicked" this past Sunday night. He was out of town but he suggested we ask Juli's best friend Taylor to go with us, as he remembered her saying she hadn't been to a Broadway show before. Even though she had just spent the night the week prior, her parents said she could go and spend the night again Sunday. Juli was filled with anticipation all weekend.

Normally, the earliest we ever get to the theater is 5 minutes before curtain...or places...or we're running down the aisle as the music begins. I wanted to get there early so the girls could look around, go to the bathroom, and get booster seats. Well, no booster seats...at a show where they've got tons of kids in the audience. I guess the show doesn't make enough money to afford them. (huh?) Anyway, we were fortunate because we had one of our seats was on the aisle. I told Juli to sit next to me and Taylor needed to sit on the aisle, but, of course, she talked her way into convincing me (and Taylor) they could both comfortably fit in the same aisle seat for the duration of the show. And they did. Well, I don't know about the comfortable part, but they sat there the whole show, all right, and had a great time.

The two witches have a bit in the middle of the first act where they "toss" their hair and say "toss, toss" and so the girls spent the entire intermission walking around the lobby going "toss, toss" to their hair as they flipped it.

Today is my audition for Ragtime, which they're already bringing back to Broadway. But I think it's one of the best musicals of the past 25 years so I'm not complaining. I'm auditioning for Tateh, the Jewish immigrant who comes to NYC in search of a new life. I've been working on the material they gave me all weekend. I told Seth this character is me. A single father of a little girl who comes to New York looking to fulfill his dreams. The difference is Tateh ends up with Mother in the show and I ended up with Seth Rudetsky. It's been a lot of funning preparing for it--two songs and the sides. I feel the same way about this as I did the Phantom auditions. I'm just happy to be in the game and feel grateful to have the chance to be considered and work on such great material.  And now...I've got to wash my shirt so I have something to wear in a few hours!

Sometimes you just need a little push

Seth and I are about to head out to see "Doubt." A rare treat to see a movie that a) does not require a babysitter and b) does not involve cute animals or cartoon characters.

Last night I did my first bit of acting in exactly three years. My play. I did a reading last night with Harvey Evans, original company member of Gypsy, West Side Story, Damn Yankees, among many other classics. It was just for a few friends. Rented a studio space up the blocks. Used music stands and Seth read the stage directions and played a little piano. It's a two-person play I wrote a number of years ago and I think I wrote about it in recent blogs--everything is sort of a blur at this point--but anyway, I was going to do a reading two weeks ago and then we had to go and get that darned cancer call, so that was cancelled. I wasn't exactly going to put it in the virtual drawer again, but if it hadn't been for Seth pushing me to just do it already, I probably would have pushed it well into January. But now, I've got one under my belt. People liked it, Harvey definitely did, and I've already made changes to tighten it and clarify things. I'm going to do another reading in a few weeks to incorporate these changes--invite more people--and the intention is to do it off-Broadway in 2009. Enough waiting around for someone else to make my dream come true. I was telling Mom and Seth I think that's one of the positive things about this whole cancer thing--no more putting off tomorrow what can be today. No more dreams deferred. Period.

Now what do I do? The other question

For the record, I went to Mamma Mia! last night. I don't think it could be called a great movie by any means, but who can't have fun watching Meryl Streep sing at the top of her lungs amidst the beautiful Greek scenery. It reminded me exactly why so-called "escapist" entertainment actually serves a real purpose in getting people out of themselves for a bit and just have fun. And then today, in the middle of this huge project we've undertaken of transferring videos to dvds, I came across a rehearsal tape of me playing Tony in West Side Story when I was 23, over 15 years ago. In addition to all the extra hair I had, I couldn't help but be struck my what I heard.

Then out of the blue...

Have you ever been in a relationship that went wrong and perhaps you were the reason it didn't work out or you let a relationship continue much longer than its expiration date because you sorta liked the way the other person was treating you and you knew no matter how you sliced it, you'd be breaking his heart by ending it? Well, it's happened to me and this is a story of how me and a boyfriend from 8 years ago reconnected because of Betty Lynn Buckley a few weeks ago when I was in Texas.

It just flew out!

Like I said yesterday, it was really wonderful having my sister Danielle on the trip, including the fact that she got to see such great Broadway entertainment. When she was younger--I was in my early 20s and she was not yet even 13--I'd take her to every national tour of every musical that stopped through L.A. whenever she'd come out to visit me. So, you can imagine how much fun it was personally for me to be able to share all of it up close and personal. Anyway, Seth put together a "diva" show at 6:00 one evening on the ship. He'd chat with them and then they'd sing a song or two and then he'd bring the next woman up, etc. It was really great. In fact, someone has put a number of them up on youtube already! Well, one of the women (who shall remain nameless) sang a particular song that was particularly moving to Danielle. I wanted them to meet and for me to take a picture of the two of them. Well, I introduced them and then right before I took their picture, a certain "Broadway" photographer (who shall remain nameless so I'm not sued!) came up and said he had to take her picture right then along with the other ladies and I could have my picture later, but as he was saying these words he was actually pulling at the woman's shoulder and then he literally came up to her side and pushed her in the breast towards where the other women were. Up to that point, I was the nice guy. I said the picture would only take a second, etc. But at that moment, when he pushed this actress, I said, "You're such an asshole!" Well, let me tell you what happened after that!

The ever-changing travel plans

I'm backstage at Betty and Seth's concert here in Irving, Texas, not only the very city that Juli and I lived in before moving to New York, but it's the same theater! Seth is in my old dressing room from Ragtime (where I am now) and Betty is in my dressing room from when I did 110 in the Shade--two shows I did while I was living here in 2005. It's still mind-boggling how weird life can be!

Live, from the ranch

The good news? I'm writing this from Betty Buckley's kitchen while Seth and Betty are in the room next door running music. So, basically, I don't need to put on a cd while typing. I got it coming to me live. It would be an understatement to say it's a "treat" to be hearing Betty sing songs that I've heard for years on my cds. The bad news? As of today, Nana is not coming on the trip. She's home from the hospital. Was released yesterday morning. However, she's having trouble breathing, and it's painful. All of this because of the biopsy. I've had to let it go. Otherwise, my anger towards the doctors would consume me. I told Mom we can worry about it after the cruise. There's nothing that can be done about it now. I guess there's still a slight chance she'll feel better by Saturday, but the likelihood is growing dimmer by the day.

Off to Texas

Ok. 5 minutes and then we're off for the airport to go to Texas. It's 5:45 in the morning AND it's my birthday. I got 3 hours sleep. BUT I've already gotten a number of terrific birthday gifts!!!

1) My grandmother is getting out of the hospital today AND it looks like she may very well go on the cruise! Even though negligence abounds in what happened to her with the biopsy, it will really all have to be addressed later on. The great thing is she wants to go, is feeling better (I talked to Mom from the hospital yesterday and she said Nana was sitting up and looked great), and it may all work out after all! A true miracle after how she was feeling just 2 days ago! And she's still got 6 days before we all get on a plane together for New York.

2) Ok. I don't really mention celebrities or Broadway people a lot on here because I don't want to seem like I'm boasting, but today's my birthday so I'm giving myself permission! So, reader, beware! :) I ran into the amazing Broadway actress Carolee Carmello on Tuesday at Starbucks. Seth had talked a while back about her coming on the cruise and then he completely forgot to ask her. I called Seth real fast when she was in there and he said to run and catch her to ask. I introduced myself, asked her, she asked Mamma Mia management that night (she was on her way to the theater), and now she's going with her 7-year-old son! (her daughter and husband can't go). She can't stay for the whole cruise but Seth is having her sing Woman in the Moon from Star is Born. The first night is Barbra Streisand night. I'm singing Piece of Sky from Yentl. I got to hear her rehearse is a bit on Friday and she sounds incredible. That was a gift!

3) Seth and I went last night to the first preview of [title of show] at the Lyceum on Broadway. The cast have become friends of mine over the past year (and one guy, Hunter, I've known for over 10 years from my previous life in NYC). It was a show they created and believed in and worked really hard for and they made it to Broadway. They were so great, it was so inspirational, everyone stood and screamed--it was like a rock concert. We went backstage with Stephanie Block (whom Juli and I saw star in Wicked when we lived in Dallas), Donna Murphy, and my friends Jennifer Prescott and Brian d'arcy James. Seth took a picture of me and Jennier and Susan Blackwell, one of the stars of the show, because they're both helping me with my book by reading what I've written and giving me feedback. I'll try to post it when we're at...

4) We're on our way to Betty's ranch for two days and then we're gonna be staying in Irving, where Juli and I lived before moving back to NYC. Irving is where Seth and Betty are gonna be performing. I'm hoping to get a lot of writing done! I'm also hoping I can sneak in a voice lesson of some sort with Betty while we're at her ranch! It's still incredible to me to be able to know Betty and be able to just chat with her about whatever and for her to know me and a bit about my life after growing up listening to her and watching her as a kid on 8 is Enough. It never gets old.

and

5) We get in Dallas at 10:15 and I'm gonna be able to spend my birthday morning with my whole family! Juli, Mom, my sister, and Seth!!! How lucky can a guy get?!

Ok, we're out of here! Here we come!

Seth is playing for Betty Buckley.

Like a Raisin in the Sun...

I love the DVR. Don't tell Time-Warner but I'd pay double what I pay now for it. Great stuff like Bill Moyers or Frontline or Great Performances I would never watch if this thing hadn't been invented. It's so easy to "record" them (digitize them?), but the other great thing is you can store them for as long as you want. Well, yesterday I watched "A Raisin in the Sun" while I was busy packing, organizing, scanning, cleaning. It originally aired in February. It was really great. I only wish I had seen it when it played here in NYC. I had always heard of it but never knew what it was about...until I heard the opening lines in the play which actually quote a Langston Hughes poem entitled "A Dream Deferred."

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

It's moments like that I know there is a God. It's like watching the movie now versus a month or two or three ago  was all part of some "master plan" of reaching a new place in my life with reconfigured dreams in place...but still dreams.